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Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from a reader.
大家好! 本周《名师答疑》，我们回答来自一位读者的问题。
I often confuse the meaning of the words "rather," "quite" and "so."
我经常分不清rather、quite和so这三个词。
Thank you, dear teacher.
亲爱的老师，谢谢您的解答。
Dear Reader, the words you asked about are a special kind of adverb called "intensifiers."
亲爱的读者，你问的这几个词是一种特殊的副词，叫做“强调成分”。
These words make a statement about something a little stronger.
这些词会加强句子的语气。
Let us look at some examples.
让我们来看一些例句。
It was rather hot yesterday – that's why I went for a swim.
昨天很热，这就是我去游泳的原因。
You will look quite attractive in this shirt.
你穿这件衬衫会很迷人的。
We are so excited about going to see the movie!
要去看这部电影太让我们感到兴奋了！
Note that the words come before an adjective.
请注意，这些词位于形容词之前。
They give more force to the adjective.
它们让形容词更加有力。
It is difficult to say how much force these words add to an adjective because their use can change from one person to another and from one area to another.
很难说这些词给形容词增加了多大的力量，因为它们的用法对不同的人、在不同的地区都不尽相同。
Speakers of British English use "quite" and "rather" differently than speakers of American English.
说英式英语的人和说美式英语的人会以不同的方式使用quite和rather。
I would like to say a few more words about the adverb "so."
关于副词so，我想再说几句。
As an English teacher, it bothered me when I began to hear people using "so" more often to add force to their statements, as in these examples.
作为一名英语教师，当我听到人们更多地使用so来加强语气时，这让我感到有些不舒服，比如下面的例句。
She was so happy.
她太高兴了。
This math homework is so hard.
这份数学作业太难了。
My traditional grammar guides told me that this kind of statement should include "that" and another expression, as in these examples:
我的传统语法指南告诉我，这种陈述句应该加上that和另一个表达，就像下面的例句这样：
She was so happy that she jumped up and down.
她太高兴了，开始上蹦下跳。
This math homework is so hard that I needed to ask for help.
这份数学作业太难了，我需要寻求帮助。
But last year, my coworker John Russell wrote about "so" in Everyday Grammar.
但去年，我的同事约翰·罗素在《日常语法》上写了一篇关于so的文章。
He explained that in the past 20 years, its use as an intensifier has increased.
他解释说，在过去20年里，so越来越多地被用作强调成分。
Grammar experts at Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary still say it is an "informal" use of the word.
韦氏词典的语法专家仍然认为这种用法是“不正式的”。
And that's Ask a Teacher. I'm Jill Robbins.
以上就是本期《名师答疑》。我是吉尔·罗宾斯。
